a tight budget means a new $100 per sport activity fee will kick in. still, the worst budget cuts were avoided which means this fourth grader will continue in japanese ee mergs, a program for a time last winter was on the chopping block. [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: that means. >> i go to fox mill elementary school. >> reporter: as to whether the kids are happy to be heading back depends on who you ask zbh i want to go back to school to see my friends but i don't want to start school and do school work and homework. >> i'm tired of watching tv all day. i want to go back. >> reporter: one thing the girls are both sure of, the all-important outfit.

>> white t-shirt and bhu shorts. >> reporter: you planned your whole week of clothes? >> yes, i have. >> you were explaining what that was. >> aero past lee is a store that's popular with kids that age. >> who knew. >> a nice morning to be at the bus stop. >> we have excellent weather. it was feeling like fall of all things again this morning. i'm tom kierein starting off this tuesday, no travel problems weatherwise as we get back to school. near 70 by the bay but away if the waters only in the 60s this morning. when we were down in the 40s in a few locations around the blue ridge and shenandoah valley, 50s and low and mid-60s. on the eastern shore away from

the waters only around 60. another cool morning this morning in the mountains not as chilly as yesterday morning. it was near 40 in a few locations of western maryland and west virginia. a view from space showing a clear sky. won't have any travel problems. a beautiful travel pattern for today with sunshine. still not very humid. then tomorrow into the upper 80s again. we'll have a front coming through by early afternoon, a small chance of a shower as it does come through. we've have a blustery wind gusting to 25 tomorrow afternoon and cooler weather feeling beautifully dry and comfortable on thursday and friday. ashley, how's the back to school traffic? >> back to school we go. unfortunately we're rapping up most of the issue from yesterday. the red line will open at 5:00 a.m. between takoma and wheaton.

the volume is light on the roads but more company than this hour yesterday. the truck scale lanes are open. no trouble spots around the beltway. clean slate this morning. >> ashley, thank you. with the return to work and school for almost everyone in our area now, that means more road congestion on this so-called terrible tuesday. there's our vdot camera, traffic moving along just fine, won't be the case in a few hours though. here's john schriffen with more on what we can expect. >> reporter: as the sun sets on the mall and labor day festivities, it marks the unofficial end to summer. >> it was too short, it flew by that matter of a week. >> reporter: government employees head back to work and kids will be boarding school buses. >> i expect it will be a little crazy, the traffic seems like

it's been really bad this summer. it's been a pretty crazy summer. aaa mid-atlantic says there are 3 million workers and half drive to work by themselves. if you do get on the road tuesday, there are areas to avoid. >> most of the potomac river crossings, construction is going on all of them except one. i-95 south, 300,000 cars. greenbelt, which is the most congested part of the beltway -- >> reporter: taking metro is one way around the problem but riders on the red line will have their own set of issues. after being closed this weekend, trains will return but they'll be running at a reduced speed. >> there's nothing i can do except get on train at the regular time and hope for the best.

>> reporter: aaa mid-atlantic says this is the best way to avoid tuesday's rush. >> call in sick, say the dog ate my homework. whatever excuse you can find. use it tomorrow. >> reporter: that's an alternative most bosses won't like to hear. aaa mid-atlantic says this morning's traffic is the kind of traffic people around the region need to get used to. we'll see it the rest of the fall. it may be a shock to many because we haven't seen it for the past three months. reporting from the key bridge, john schriffen, "news 4 today." trains will be moving along metro's red line this morning, but you can expect delays. they are going to be traveling at reduced speeds between the forest glen and takoma stations. they had to make several upgrades as well. fire officials are trying to figure out what caused a serious fire in west virginia. flames killed more than two dozen race horses. this cell phone video shows the

intensity of the fire. they were heading home around 4:00 yesterday morning and saw the flames that engulfed one barn, spread to a second and threatened a third. they ran to the dark third barn with only light from a cell phone to rescue the horses. >> you need to get out, the fire, the fire. i could see it cresting over the top part of the barn. we were working to get the last few horses out. we literally opened barn doors and shuffled them out. >> firefighters worked for hours to put out hot spots. they estimate the fire caused more than $1 million damage to the barn. five people are recovering from shootings on consecutive nights within a block of northeast washington. a teenager and adult were shot in a drive by on blain street last night. two teenager girls and another adult were shot just around the corner at the clay terrace apartments sunday night. at this point it's not clear if the two shootings are connected.

everyone is expected to survive. today manassas residents will have a chance to offer their opinions of a adult-themed store moving to town. jackson miller will hold a town meeting to talk about k.k.'s temptations. community leaders say it will make the area less family friendly. the store's owner says her business will be classy, upscale and discreet. tonight's town hall starts at 7:00 at the manassas city council chambers on center street. a debate over holiday displays is expected to draw a crowd in virginia tonight. loudoun county board of supervisors recommending banning nativity scenes and other religious symbols at the courthouse on harrison street southeast in leesburg. the board is expected to vote on the issue tomorrow morning. the fight against the flu starts next week. people in virginia and west

virginia can get a flu shot. public health officials say 160 million doses will be available nationwide this year. this year's vaccine will include a strain of the h1n1 virus, this way people only need to get one vaccination instead of two separate doses. >> seems like yesterday we were talking about the swine flu. >> just packing up our swim suits now have to get ready for the flu. ahead on "news 4 today." more bad news for president obama, the his disapproval rate is rising. surprising admission, joran van der sloot admitting he took money from natalee holloway's family. he'll explain why. a summer vacation may be over but will it feel like

time for weather and traffic early on this tuesday morning. clear and cool start to this tuesday. our temperatures now in the 60s generally around the suburbs and rural areas near 70 in washington and near the bay. highs today into the mid and upper 80s. lots of sunshine and low humidity. tomorrow, a few clouds around a front will be coming through midday with a small chance of a passing shower. highs reaching near 90. after the front goes by, breezy and turning cooler, sunny on

thursday and friday, highs upper 70s. a look at the weekend in ten minutes and the latest with tropical storm hermine. ashley, how's the traffic? >> starting off this morning, red line will reopen at 5:00 a.m. they dropped it from the website so trains will be running from the takoma station and wheaton glenmont area. no big trouble spots around the region. we've got 95 wide open so starting you off with great news heading to 395 and to and across the 14th. craig and eun, back to you. >> ashley linder, she'll be busy in a couple of hours i imagine. investigators at this point are poring over a key piece of equipment recovered from the bottom of the gulf. we'll talk about what it could hold in terms of a key to what really caused the disaster.

plus tropical storm hermine is strengthening quickly and already caught some people offguard

hundreds of thousands of kids in our area head back to school this tuesday. in fairfax county the new year means new fees for some parents, they have to pay $100 per sport activity fee and $75 for ap tests. >> get ready for gridlock. many call it terrible traffic tuesday because more people will be on the road after the light summer. no word from investigators about what may have started the tragic fire started on cell phone video. flames ripped through two barnes in charlestown and injured horses.

the fire did more than a million dollars in damage. turning to the race for d.c. mayor, the democratic primary is one week away and the candidates are out in full force. gray has the lead over fenty in po most polls. early voting started a week ago in the district. about 9,000 people voted in the first week. president obama is calling on congress to okay a new $50 billion system system husband package. democrats are pushing more erroneous spending they say. >> reporter: the white house says it's not a stimulus, but the idea is similar, $50 billion for infrastructure, filming

150,000 miles of road and 150 miles of runways and building a new air traffic control system. >> anybody want more delays in airports? i didn't think so. >> reporter: president obama says it will create jobs and won't cost a dime of borrowed money. >> this is a plan that will be fully paid for. it will not add to the deficit over time. >> reporter: republicans attack saying americans are skeptical about more spending and looking for the shovel-red jobs promised more than a year ago. all of in as democrats are headed into attack going into the elections. they pick the first target. >> joe done hi wants you to believe he's independent? >> reporter: ads and promises will only go so far. this election they are looking at one thing results. >> there's nothing barack obama can do about that. >> reporter: in fact, the

infrastructure projects aren't expected to generate any jobs until next year. tracie potts, nbc news. thomas died sunday of pancreatic cancer. he was 68. thomas was one of famed little rock nine, a group of african-american students who integrated in all white high school in arkansas in 1957. yesterday president obama said this country owes thomas a debt of gratitude for the stand he took a half century ago and the leadership he showed in the decades that followed. the man suspected in the disappearance of natalee holloway admitted to a dutch newspaper that he extorted money from holloway's parents. joran van der sloot told the telegraph he did it to get back at her parents. her familiar hi paid $10,000 to learn the location of the body.

he is currently in jail in peru facing murder charges in the death of another young woman. now to efforts after the gulf oil disaster. investigators are looking for answers about how the blowout preventer failed. crews raised the massive metal from the ocean floor saturday. it did not stop a giant surge of oil and gas that ignited the deepwater horizon rig. rams should have cut off a pipe and sealed the well. >> if i was investigating this was the system failure in the hydraulic control system. >> they expect investigators to focus on alterations to the hydraulic system that move the rams. the blowout preventer will go to a nasa facility in louisiana to be tested. a fast-moving fire forced more than a thousand people to evacuate their homes.

strong gusty winds fanned the flames northwest of boulder, colorado. about 100 firefighters have been working to put out the fire. no injuries have been reported. the cause of the fire remains under investigation. this morning, tropical storm hermine is battering south texas. it came ashore in last night. hermine could bring as much as a foot of rain. some areas still recovering from hurricane alex back in june. a tropical storm warning is still in effect for part of texas. we were sitting here yesterday when it became a tropical storm. that organized quickly. >> it was near the land mass of mexico and south texas, it went inland quickly. it is bringing a lot of rain to south texas. good morning, i'm tom kierein. as we approach 4:51 early on this tuesday morning, there's the washington monument under a

clear sky. national airport at 70 degrees. not very humid, light southwesterly breeze and that should warm us up today. the southerly wind into the mid and upper 8 0e's. it's a cool morning in prince george's county. in arlington, fairfax, montgomery, mid-60s as well. panhandle of west virginia, much of the shenandoah valley and blue ridge to the east of the blue ridge along the foothills of the blue ridge mountains on the eastern shore away from the waters it's near 60. near the beaches and around the bay it's near 70. in west virginia, many locations are just near 50 degrees this morning and we have high pressure still holding forth here. that will give us another dry day with sunshine and warm temperatures. here's the latest with hermine. continues to spin away over just coming into texas. look at all of this rain from near just waco all the way down to the mexican border.

they are getting heavy downpours there. here are the latest statistics. it's about 82 miles north-northwest of brownsville, texas and will continue to move across west texas and bring rain there and decrease down to a depression later today. over a foot of rain possible there. here we need some rain, don't have any on tap. for today lots of sun and mid afternoon in the upper 80s. overnight tonight should be mostly clear. we'll see a front approaching tomorrow. coming through midday with clouds and a small chance of a shower. a blustery front after the wind goes by and bringing in cooler weather behind the front thursday and friday with sunshine highs in the 70s. we'll have more of the same on saturday. another front coming through on sunday with showers, perhaps, should dry out monday. ashley, good morning, how's our traffic now? >> good morning. let's dive in with the good news starting you off quietly this morning. looking at the capitol beltway.

here's the case past colesville, healthy rate of speed. past the american legion bridge, they are leaving virginia heading for maryland. all lanes are open and speed volume on the increase past 109. a little bit of congestion but nothing too terrible as you can see there. it's a little congested but you're still at the posted speed limit towards the beltway. craig and eun, back to you. 4:53 is your time. 68 degrees. a local university goes high tech, how students are using their iphones to improve their time on campus. also, it was one of most anticipated games in college football, that's why i've got bags under my eyes this morning. can the hokies pull off a big win at

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you'll have to forgive virginia tech fans in they are a bit crab by. the hokies lost a heartbreaker last night. boise state quarterback through a touchdown and they would hold on to win by 31-30. it is a season opener for both teams who came in ranked top ten in the country. boise state number 3. navy football fans may not feel

much better than hokey nation, they fell to maryland. navy had a chance to win by ricky dobs came up short of the goal line. it snaps a seven-game losing streak for the terps. . one can argue they didn't so much win as -- >> a win is a win. a new app is allowing students and alumni to better connect with the university of virginia. it has 21 functions including campus news and schedules and real time sports scores. the august meanted reality feature allows users to pull up information on buildings by viewing the building through an iphone camera. cool. technology, i wish we had those

things when we were in school, like last year for you. the labor day weekend is behind us and the kids are getting back to school and for some teachers comes a welcome relief. >> the funding has allowed much teachers that had been laid off to get back to work. many state budgets are a mess and that's giving everyone a painful lesson in math. ♪ >> reporter: in florida, an army veteran loves his job. >> it's unlimited creativity. >> reporter: found himself laid off in june and before classes started this year was told he could come back at the different school. he's been laid off twice now in two years. >> it's emotional. >> reporter: more than 500 teachers were on the same roller coaster, fired and retired. >> it was like this weight off

my shoulders. >> reporter: they and estimated 150,000 teachers around the country may be working at all this year is thanks in large part to a sudden $10 billion rescue from congress that schools have until next september to spend. >> this latest federal aid gives states some breathing room, but it's hardly a magic bullet for states' long term budgeted problems. >> reporter: many districts like l.a. feel they ought to save it for huge shortfalls fext year. chicago wants to hire back teachers but will likely have to lay them off again in nine months. texas may refuse the money all together. broward county will take it. >> it is one more year but it's better than no more years. >> reporter: looming next year for many, even bigger cuts. electives have been cuts which is why beth, voted best teacher in town, won't get her job back. >> you put your heart and sl